What Happened on April 4th This Day in History 11th What happened This day in History on April 4th 1968 U.S.A. Martin Luther King Jr. Murdered 4th April 1968 : Martin Luther King Jr. is shot to death by James Earl Ray at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. His assassination led to riots in more than 100 US cities and a call from the United States President Lyndon Johnson for citizen's to reject the blind violence that has taken Dr King who had lived by non-violence. James Earl Ray was convicted of his murder and sentenced to 99 years in prison. 1958 UK Aldermaston Peace March 4th April 1958 : 10,000 protesters arrive in Trafalgar Square, London as part of the CND / Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament the protesters including mothers pushing children in prams and singing peace songs, over the next four days march over 52 miles in rain and snow from London to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston.

The march was held again in 1959 , 1961 and 1962 when over 150,000 took part. In 1963 anarchists became involved which resulted in bad press for the peaceful march. 1939 U.S.A. Glen Miller Records "Moonlight Serenade." 4th April 1939 : Glen Miller records the wildly popular "Moonlight Serenade." It becomes a standard throughout the big band era and beyond. 1964 U.S.A. The Beatles 4th April 1964 : The Beatles hold an unprecedented record of twelve positions on Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, The songs were "Do You Want To Know A Secret" "Thank You Girl" . 1973 U.S.A. New York's World Trade Center Completed 4th April 1973 : New York's World Trade Center The twin towers of the World Trade Center rising 1,350 feet above Manhattan officially became the world's tallest buildings.

Help Support The People History Unlike many other sites we are not sponsored and do not ask for donations but hope our visitors will support us by purchasing products from our "Taking You Back In Time" Range including Year In History Prints, Personalized Newspaper Front Pages, Year In History Mugs, Anniversary Mugs including our Newspaper Front Page Birthday Print Our unique year in history newspaper front page style print ( Portrait Mode ) any month / year can be customized by adding photos, a personal message, a full name, date of birth, and birth place or special location. Each Print is Unique and tailored to Month, Year of Birthday. When ordered we will send an Email asking for the necessary information to complete the print. Once we have completed the print it will be Emailed to the customer as a PDF file. Options for customization include adding a full name, date of birth, birth location, personalized message, and photographs. Each print is different and features events, prices, sports news, popular movies, popular music, and popular radio/television/Broadway information depending on the year chosen 1850 U.S.A.

Los Angeles and San Francisco become cities 4th April Following California becoming the 31st State in 1850 Los Angeles and San Francisco become Cities ( Los Angeles with a population of 1,610- April 4th ) and ( San Francisco with a population of 21,000 - April 16th ) on the same year. 1818 U.S.A. Stars And Stripes 4th April 1818 : Congress decided the U.S. flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes represent the original Thirteen Colonies that rebelled against the British crown and became the first states in the Union, and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state. The act specified that new flag designs should become official on the first July 4th (Independence Day) following admission of one or more new states. 1902 UK Scholarships for Americans at Oxford University 4th April 1902 : British industrialist Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will to provide scholarships for Americans at Oxford University in England.

1916 - 1918 France World War I Battle Of The Somme 4th April : One of the most costly battles in modern wartime is fought near the Somme Region and over 2 years when this small area of countryside saw the deaths of over 1 million men from both sides of the war. 1920 Palestine Riots Sunday, 4th April : Violence erupts between Arab and Jewish residents in British-controlled Jerusalem from April 4th to the April 7th with 9 killed and 216 injured. 1933 U.S.A. Dirigible Airship The Akron 4th April 1933 : The dirigible airship The Akron crashes in New Jersey, killing 73 people in one of the first air disasters in history, it was the largest airship built in the United States when it took its first flight in August 1931 .

1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Established 4th April 1949 : The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by 12 Western nations: the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and Portugal 1967 U.S.A. Martin Luther King, Jr Says US Should Leave Vietnam 4th April 1967 : The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. says in a speech that the United States stop all bombing of North and South Vietnam and declare a unilateral truce in the hope that it would lead to peace talks. 1975 Vietnam Transport Plane Evacuating Vietnamese Orphans Crashes 4th April 1975 : A U.S. Air Force transport plane ( C-5A Galaxy cargo plane )which was part of "Operation Babylift" evacuating Vietnamese orphans crashed shortly after takeoff from Saigon, killing 138 people, including 127 of the orphans, this was just under half of those who were on board.

1979 Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Hanged 4th April 1979 : Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, has been hanged in spite of international calls for clemency. Many believed his trial and the sentence were manipulated by the ruling military regime, led by General Zia ul-Haq,. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a political opponent following a trial which was widely condemned as unfair. Mr Bhutto had been Pakistan's leader since 1973 and was deposed in a military coup 18 months earlier. The country stayed under martial law until 1985. 1984 England Greenham Common Peace Demonstrators 4th April 1984 : The women from the main peace camp at Greenham Common in Berkshire have been evicted with more than 30 arrested after bailiffs backed up by 300 police officers moved in. By the following day women had returned to Greenham Common to re-establish their camps around the smaller gates and remained at the base throughout the time Cruise missiles were there.

The last of the missiles was flown back to the US in 1991 and most of the protesters left the site believing they had helped to keep the base in the Public Eye which forced the government to end the of Cruise missiles in England. 1991 Scotland Children Taken BY Social Services For Satanic Abuse Charges against Parents 4th April 1991 : Three children are taken from their families after allegations of satanic abuse in the Orkney Islands off Scotland. The case was thrown out of court by Sheriff David Kelbie who criticized the social workers who took the children away from their homes for failing to produce any evidence supporting the allegations. 1996 U.S.A. Jaguar New SK8 4th April 1996 : Jaguar introduced its new SK8 convertible at the New York International Auto Show. 2000 UK Freak Weather Causes Chaos 4th April 2000 : Unusual severe weather including blizzards and the coldest day in April on record brings chaos to Roads, Rail and Air Travel throughout the UK. 2003 U.S.A.

Sammy Sosa hits his 500th homer 4th April 2003 : Chicago Cub's player Sammy Sosa hit his 500th homer in the seventh inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds. His hit made him the 18th member of the 500 home run club . 2003 Iraq Saddam International Airport 4th April 2003 : During the 2003 invasion of Iraq U.S. forces seized Saddam International Airport outside Baghdad. 2006 Iraq Saddam Hussein Charged With Genocide 4th April 2006 : The Iraq tribunal announce criminal charges against Saddam Hussein and six others, accusing them of genocide and crimes against humanity stemming from a 1980s crackdown against Kurds 2006 Kuwait Women vote for first time in Kuwait 4th April 2006 : Women have voted for the first time in this year's Kuwaiti council by-elections, and female candidates were among the eight that were running for the seat in the Salmiya district. 60% of eligible voters are women, and voting is in segregated polling booths (a condition that was demanded by Islamist and tribal leaders).

Women were granted equal political rights in 2005, and will be able to vote in 2007's legislative polls. 2008 United States Abraham Lincoln Letter is sold at auction 4th April 2008 : A letter written by Abraham Lincoln is sold at auction for $3.4 million in New York. The 1864 reply to a petition by 195 children asking for the freedom of "all the slave children in this country" has beaten the national record of $3.1 million. Sotheby's have said that it was bought by an American collector by telephone. The letter asks to "Please tell these little people I am very glad their young hearts are so full of just and generous sympathy and that, while I have not the power to grant all they ask, I trust they will remember that God has, and that, as it seems, He wills to do it."' The letter was dated April 5th, 1864.

2008 United States The Martin Luther King Shooting anniversary in Memphis 4th April 2008 : Crowds have gathered in Memphis to mark the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. Commemorations have taken place around the former Lorraine Motel, now a civil rights museum, where he was shot dead. Presidential hopefuls John McCain and Hillary Clinton have both marked the event in Memphis, while the latter's Democratic rival Barack Obama has spoken of it in Indiana. King's campaign for equal rights by non-violent means has inspired millions. The shooting was on April 4th, 1968. 2008 United States Shootings at a New York immigration center 4th April 2008 : A gunman has killed thirteen people after taking dozens hostage in New York. The gunman was found dead inside Binghampton's immigration center. Around forty people had escaped from the building, but four others were critically injured in the shooting. Mexico 2011 Mexico Shoot-out in Acapulco 4th April, 2011 : A shoot-out between security forces and gunmen left three people dead in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco.

One of the dead was a soldier while the other two were suspected gunmen. The two-hour long gun fight occurred after police and soldiers tried to stop gang members as they tried to set a shopping area on fire. Seven people were arrested and four people sustained injuries. United States 2012 United States Sculptor Elizabeth Catlett Dies 4th April, 2012 : American artist Elizabeth Catlett died at the age of ninety-six. Catlett was known for being a sculptor and printmaker who was unafraid to create political statements in her art in order to highlight better rights for African-Americans and women. Catlett was barred from the US during the McCarthy era because of her political activisim and moved to Mexico. United States 2013 United States Famous Film Critic Dies 4th April, 2013 : Widely respected and world renowned film critic Roger Ebert died at the age of seventy. Ebert had been suffering with thyroid cancer for several years and had lost his ability to talk after a jaw surgery related to the illness. Ebert had been most well known for his thumbs up or thumbs down rating system featured on a television show with his colleague Gene Siskel.

United States 2014 United States Former President Art Exhibit Opens 4th April, 2014 : An exhibit featuring paintings of world leaders by former US president George W. Bush opened at his Presidential Library in Dallas, Texas. The exhibit featured 24 different portraits of world leaders who the former president had met and worked closely with during his two terms. Born This Day In History 4th April Celebrating Birthday's Today Dr. King is assassinated - Apr 04, 1968 - HISTORY.com Dr. King is assassinated Publisher A+E Networks Just after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at theLorraine Motelin Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers’ strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old. In the months before his assassination, Martin Luther King became increasingly concerned with the problem of economic inequality in America.

He organized a Poor People’s Campaign to focus on the issue, including an interracialpoor people’s marchon Washington, and in March 1968 traveled to Memphis in support of poorly treated African-American sanitation workers. On March 28, a workers’ protest march led by King ended in violence and the death of an African-American teenager. King left the city but vowed to return in early April to lead another demonstration. On April 3, back in Memphis, King gave his last sermon, saying, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop…And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” One day after speaking those words, Dr. King was shot and killed by a sniper. As word of the assassination spread, riots broke out in cities all across the United States and National Guard troops were deployed in Memphis and Washington, D.C. On April 9, King was laid to rest in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to pay tribute to King’s casket as it passed by in a wooden farm cart drawn by two mules. The evening of King’s murder, a Remington .30-06 hunting rifle was found on the sidewalk beside a rooming house one block from the Lorraine Motel. During the next several weeks, the rifle, eyewitness reports, and fingerprints on the weapon all implicated a single suspect: escaped convict James Earl Ray. A two-bit criminal, Ray escaped a Missouri prison in April 1967 while serving a sentence for a holdup. In May 1968, a massive manhunt for Ray began. The FBI eventually determined that he had obtained a Canadian passport under a false identity, which at the time was relatively easy. On June 8, Scotland Yard investigators arrested Ray at a London airport. He was trying to fly to Belgium, with the eventual goal, he later admitted, of reaching Rhodesia. Rhodesia, now called Zimbabwe, was at the time ruled by an oppressive and internationally condemned white minority government.

Extradited to the United States, Ray stood before a Memphis judge in March 1969 and pleaded guilty to King’s murder in order to avoid the electric chair. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Three days later, he attempted to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming he was innocent of King’s assassination and had been set up as a patsy in a larger conspiracy. He claimed that in 1967, a mysterious man named “Raoul” had approached him and recruited him into a gunrunning enterprise. On April 4, 1968, he said, he realized that he was to be the fall guy for the King assassination and fled to Canada. Ray’s motion was denied, as were his dozens of other requests for a trial during the next 29 years. During the 1990s, the widow and children of Martin Luther King Jr. spoke publicly in support of Ray and his claims, calling him innocent and speculating about an assassination conspiracy involving the U.S. government and military. U.S. authorities were, in conspiracists’ minds, implicated circumstantially. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover obsessed over King, who he thought was under communist influence.

For the last six years of his life, King underwent constant wiretapping and harassment by the FBI. Before his death, Dr. King was also monitored by U.S. military intelligence, which may have been asked to watch King after he publicly denounced the Vietnam War in 1967. Furthermore, by calling for radical economic reforms in 1968, including guaranteed annual incomes for all, King was making few new friends in the Cold War-era U.S. government. Over the years, the assassination has been reexamined by the House Select Committee on Assassinations, the Shelby County, Tennessee, district attorney’s office, and three times by the U.S. Justice Department. The investigations all ended with the same conclusion: James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King. The House committee acknowledged that a low-level conspiracy might have existed, involving one or more accomplices to Ray, but uncovered no evidence to definitively prove this theory. In addition to the mountain of evidence against him–such as his fingerprints on the murder weapon and his admitted presence at the rooming house on April 4–Ray had a definite motive in assassinating King: hatred.

According to his family and friends, he was an outspoken racist who informed them of his intent to kill Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He died in 1998. Related Videos Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated - YouTube Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Apr 3, 2015 On April 4th, 1968, an assassin took the life - but not the dream -- of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior. Reverend King was the most prominent civil rights leader of the 20th century. King had traveled to Memphis to support the 1,300 striking black sanitation workers with a peaceful march scheduled for April 8rh and traveled to Memphis on April 3rd. That night, at Mason Temple, he delivered his famous "Mountaintop" speech, reflecting on his own mortality.

After that speech - he returned to the Lorraine Motel. The following evening at about 6 PM, while standing on the second-floor balcony of the motel, Dr. King was struck by a single bullet that had been fired from a rooming house across the street. He was pronounced dead an hour later, leaving our nation in shock and sparking riots across the country. Category BBC ON THIS DAY | 4 | 1968: Martin Luther King shot dead 1968: Martin Luther King shot dead The American black civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King, has been assassinated. Dr King was shot dead in the southern US city of Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a march of sanitation workers protesting against low wages and poor working conditions He was shot in the neck as he stood on a hotel balcony and died in hospital soon afterwards. Reverend Jesse Jackson was on the balcony with Dr King when the single shot rang out. "He had just bent over. I reckon if he had been standing up he would not have been hit in the face," said Mr Jackson.

I ask every citizen to reject the blind violence that has taken Dr King President Lyndon Johnson Police in Memphis were put on alert for a "well-dressed" white man who is said to have dropped an automatic rifle after the shooting and escaped in a blue car. There were early signs of rioting in Memphis after Dr King's death and 4,000 members of the National Guard were drafted into the city. A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been ordered to ward off disturbances. The US President, Lyndon Johnson, has postponed a trip to Hawaii for peace talks on Vietnam. The president said he was "shocked and saddened" by the civil rights leader's death. "I ask every citizen to reject the blind violence that has taken Dr King who lived by non-violence," Mr Johnson said. Bus boycott Dr King, 39, had previously survived several attempts on his life including the bombing of his home in 1956. The charismatic civil rights leader joined the crusade for equal rights for black people in America in the mid 1950s. He first came to national prominence as one of the leaders of the Alabama bus boycott in 1955.

In 1963 Dr King led a massive march on Washington DC where he delivered his now famous "I have a dream" speech. Dr King advocated the use of non-violent tactics such as sit-ins and protest marches. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel peace prize. Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Archive Photos/Getty Images Updated January 15, 2016. At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was hit by a sniper's bullet. King had been standing on the balcony in front of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when, without warning, he was shot. The .30-caliber rifle bullet entered King's right cheek, traveled through his neck, and finally stopped at his shoulder blade. King was immediately taken to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. Violence and controversy followed. In outrage of the murder, many blacks took to the streets across the United States in a massive wave of riots.

The FBI investigated the crime, but many believed them partially or fully responsible for the assassination. An escaped convict by the name of James Earl Ray was arrested, but many people, including some of Martin Luther King Jr.'s own family, believe he was innocent. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance What happened that evening? Martin Luther King Jr: A Dedicated Leader When Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as the leader of the a Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, he began a long tenure as the spokesperson for nonviolent protest in the Civil Rights Movement . As a Baptist minister, he was a moral leader to the community. Plus, he was charismatic and had a powerful way of speaking. He was also a man of vision and determination. He never stopped dreaming of what could be. Yet he was a man, not a God. He was most often overworked and overtired. And he had a fondness for the private company of women. And though he was the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner , he did not have complete control over the Civil Rights Movement. By 1968, violence had edged its way into the movement.

Black Panther Party members carried loaded weapons; riots had erupted across the country; and numerous civil rights organizations had taken up the mantra "Black Power!" Yet Martin Luther King held strong to his beliefs, even as he saw the Civil Rights Movement being torn in two. Violence is what brought King back to Memphis in April 1968. Striking Sanitation Workers in Memphis On February 12, thirteen hundred African-American sanitation workers in Memphis went on strike. Though there had been a long history of grievances, the strike was begun as a response to a January 31 incident in which 22 black sanitation workers were sent home without pay during bad weather while all the white workers remained on the job. When the City of Memphis refused to negotiate with the 1,300 striking workers, King and other civil rights leaders were asked to visit Memphis in support. On Monday, March 18, King managed to fit in a quick stop in Memphis, where he spoke to over 15,000 who had gathered at Mason Temple. Ten days later, King arrived in Memphis to lead a march in support of the striking workers.

Unfortunately, as King led the crowd, a few of the protesters got rowdy and smashed the windows of a storefront. The violence spread and soon countless others had taken up sticks and were breaking windows and looting stores. Police moved in to disperse the crowd. Some of the marchers threw stones at the police. The police responded with tear gas and nightsticks. At least one of the marchers was shot and killed. King was extremely distressed at the violence that had erupted in his own march and became determined not to let violence prevail. He scheduled another march in Memphis for April 8. On April 3, King arrived in Memphis a little later than planned because there had been a bomb threat for his flight before takeoff. That evening, King delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech to a relatively small crowd that had braved the bad weather to hear King speak. King's thoughts were obviously on his mortality, for he discussed the plane threat as well as the time he had been stabbed. He concluded the speech with Well, I don't know what will happen now; we've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop.

And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life - longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land. And so I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. After the speech, King went back to the Lorraine Motel to rest. Prev 4th April 1968 – the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. | Dorian Cope presents On This Deity by Dorian "If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive." - Martin Luther King Jr. Today we commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. – the inspirational leader, moral arbiter and emblematic martyr of the U.S. civil rights movement.

A prophet who led America out of its Jim Crow darkness, for thirteen turbulent years, this devout Baptist preacher harnessed the energy of the African-American masses and presented their grievances to the white-controlled governments. From the triumphs of the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott through to the March on Washington with its stirring “I Have a Dream” speech, the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts, and the winning of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1963, King brought momentum to and legitimised the Afro-American revolution of the mid-twentieth century. Yet at the time of his assassination, the movement which Martin Luther King Jr. so nobly served had begun to turn its back on him. With the emergence of Black Power, “by any means necessary” had superseded “I have a dream” – and for a new generation of revolutionary black leaders like Stokely Carmichael, King’s edict of non-violence was submissive and Uncle Tom-like. It is ironic, therefore, that by 1968 King had in fact never been more radical.

A year before his death, after being shown photos of napalmed Vietnamese children whilst eating a meal, King pushed away his food and declared: “Nothing will ever taste any good for me until I do everything I can to end that war.” His subsequent and infamous “Beyond Vietnam” speech – which condemned the U.S. government as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today” – saw his powerful white allies, including President Lyndon B. Johnson, turn sharply against him. During his career as a civil rights leader, King had been no stranger to the FBI microscope – but this new treasonous direction gave J. Edgar Hoover and his lackeys the green light to go after King without restrain. And go after him they did. The FBI repeatedly attempted to discredit King with accusations of communist sympathies and philandering, and kept him under constant surveillance. Indeed, on the evening of King’s assassination in Memphis, FBI agents observed the entire incident from an adjacent fire station. The well-known antagonism between King and the FBI, the inexplicable absence of an all-points-bulletin to find the killer and the nearby agent presence have led to speculation that the FBI, and not James Earl Ray, was the real assassin.

Whatever dirt the FBI had gathered, however, was swiftly swept under the carpet following the tragic events of 4th April 1968. In death, the U.S. government was content to whitewash this black man whose anti-war stance threatened to deprive the Vietnam draft of its seemingly endless pool of poor black youths. Forgotten was King’s lack of patriotism, record of civil disobedience and Marxist tendencies. In 1983, he became one of only three persons to receive an American national holiday in his honour. For White America and Assimilated Blacks, the sanitised legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. provides a highly convenient detraction from a shameful past. For many African-Americans, however, it is yet another example of the U.S. government’s hijacking of their history and continued subjugation. Moments in Civil Rights History - April 4th, 1968 - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated - YouTube Moments in Civil Rights History - April 4th, 1968 - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist.

Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Apr 3, 2015 On April 4th, 1968, an assassin took the life – but not the dream — of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior. Reverend King was the most prominent civil rights leader of the 20th century. King had traveled to Memphis to support the 1,300 striking black sanitation workers with a peaceful march scheduled for April 8rh and traveled to Memphis on April 3rd. That night, at Mason Temple, he delivered his famous “Mountaintop” speech, reflecting on his own mortality. After that speech – he returned to the Lorraine Motel. The following evening at about 6 PM, while standing on the second-floor balcony of the motel, Dr. King was struck by a single bullet that had been fired from a rooming house across the street. He was pronounced dead an hour later, leaving our nation in shock and sparking riots across the country. Want to see more?

Visit , a dedication to civil rights through first-hand accounts of those who helped start a movement. Browse through more than 100 interviews or add to the collection by sharing your own story or that of a loved one. Category About Dr. King | The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change 5 6 During the less than 13 years of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership of the modern American Civil Rights Movement, from December, 1955 until April 4, 1968, African Americans achieved more genuine progress toward racial equality in America than the previous 350 years had produced. Dr. King is widely regarded as America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history. Drawing inspiration from both his Christian faith and the peaceful teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. King led a nonviolent movement in the late 1950’s and ‘60s to achieve legal equality for African-Americans in the United States. While others were advocating for freedom by “any means necessary,” including violence, Martin Luther King, Jr.

used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly-impossible goals. He went on to lead similar campaigns against poverty and international conflict, always maintaining fidelity to his principles that men and women everywhere, regardless of color or creed, are equal members of the human family. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech , Nobel Peace Prize lecture and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” are among the most revered orations and writings in the English language. His accomplishments are now taught to American children of all races, and his teachings are studied by scholars and students worldwide. He is the only non-president to have a national holiday dedicated in his honor, and is the only non-president memorialized on the Great Mall in the nation’s capitol. He is memorialized in hundreds of statues, parks, streets, squares, churches and other public facilities around the world as a leader whose teachings are increasingly-relevant to the progress of humankind. Some of Dr.

King’s most important achievements include: In 1955, he was recruited to serve as spokesman for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was a campaign by the African-American population of Montgomery, Alabama to force integration of the city’s bus lines. After 381 days of nearly universal participation by citizens of the black community, many of whom had to walk miles to work each day as a result, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in transportation was unconstitutional. In 1957, Dr. King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization designed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. He would serve as head of the SCLC until his assassination in 1968, a period during which he would emerge as the most important social leader of the modern American civil rights movement.

In 1963, he led a coalition of numerous civil rights groups in a nonviolent campaign aimed at Birmingham, Alabama, which at the time was described as the “most segregated city in America.” The subsequent brutality of the city’s police, illustrated most vividly by television images of young blacks being assaulted by dogs and water hoses, led to a national outrage resulting in a push for unprecedented civil rights legislation. It was during this campaign that Dr. King drafted the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the manifesto of Dr. King’s philosophy and tactics, which is today required-reading in universities worldwide. Later in 1963, Dr. King was one of the driving forces behind the March for Jobs and Freedom, more commonly known as the “March on Washington,” which drew over a quarter-million people to the national mall. It was at this march that Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which cemented his status as a social change leader and helped inspire the nation to act on civil rights. Dr. King was later named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year.” In 1964, at 35 years old, Martin Luther King, Jr.

became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. His acceptance speech in Oslo is thought by many to be among the most powerful remarks ever delivered at the event, climaxing at one point with the oft-quoted phrase “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.” Also in 1964, partly due to the March on Washington, Congress passed the landmark Civil Rights Act, essentially eliminating legalized racial segregation in the United States. The legislation made it illegal to discriminate against blacks or other minorities in hiring, public accommodations, education or transportation, areas which at the time were still very segregated in many places. The next year, 1965, Congress went on to pass the Voting Rights Act, which was an equally-important set of laws that eliminated the remaining barriers to voting for African-Americans, who in some locales had been almost completely disenfranchised. This legislation resulted directly from the Selma to Montgomery, AL March for Voting Rights lead by Dr. King. Between 1965 and 1968, Dr.

King shifted his focus toward economic justice – which he highlighted by leading several campaigns in Chicago, Illinois – and international peace – which he championed by speaking out strongly against the Vietnam War. His work in these years culminated in the “Poor Peoples Campaign,” which was a broad effort to assemble a multiracial coalition of impoverished Americans who would advocate for economic change. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s less than thirteen years of nonviolent leadership ended abruptly and tragically on April 4th, 1968, when he was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King’s body was returned to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, where his funeral ceremony was attended by high-level leaders of all races and political stripes. For more information regarding the assassination trial of Dr. King. Click here. For more information regarding the Transcription of the King Family Press Conference on the MLK Assassination Trial Verdict December 9, 1999 Atlanta, GA. Click Here For more information regarding the Civil Case: King family versus Jowers. Click here . Later in 1968, Dr. King’s wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, officially founded the Martin Luther King, Jr.

Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which she dedicated to being a “living memorial” aimed at continuing Dr. King’s work on important social ills around the world. Location Martin Luther King Jr Assassination - Black History - HISTORY.com Martin Luther King Jr Assassination Martin Luther King Jr Assassination Author Martin Luther King Jr Assassination URL A+E Networks Introduction In early April 1968, shock waves reverberated around the world with the news that U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. A Baptist minister and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), King had led the civil rights movement since the mid-1950s, using a combination of powerful words and non-violent tactics such as sit-ins, boycotts and protest marches (including the massive March on Washington in 1963) to fight segregation and achieve significant civil and voting rights advances for African Americans. His assassination led to an outpouring of anger among black Americans, as well as a period of national mourning that helped speed the way for an equal housing bill that would be the last significant legislative achievement of the civil rights era.

Google King Assassination: Background In the last years of his life, King faced mounting criticism from young African-American activists who favored a more confrontational approach to seeking change. These young radicals stuck closer to the ideals of the black nationalist leader Malcolm X (himself assassinated in 1965), who had condemned King’s advocacy of non-violence as “criminal” in the face of the continuing repression suffered by African Americans. As a result of this opposition, King sought to widen his appeal beyond his own race, speaking out publicly against the Vietnam War and working to form a coalition of poor Americans–black and white alike–to address such issues as poverty and unemployment. Did You Know? Among the witnesses at the scene of King's assassination was one of his closest aides, Jesse Jackson. Ordained as a minister soon after King's death, Jackson went on to form Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) and the National Rainbow Coalition and to run twice for U.S. president, in 1984 and 1988.

In the spring of 1968, while preparing for a planned march to Washington to lobby Congress on behalf of the poor, King and other SCLC members were called to Memphis, Tennessee to support a sanitation workers’ strike. On the night of April 3, King gave a speech at the Mason Temple Church in Memphis. In it he seemed to foreshadow his own untimely passing, or at least to strike a particularly reflective note, ending with these now-historic words: “I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Just after 6 p.m. the following day, King was standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel, where he and associates were staying, when a sniper’s bullet struck him in the neck. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later, at the age of 39.

Shock and distress over the news of King’s death sparked rioting in more than 100 cities around the country, including burning and looting. Amid a wave of national mourning, President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Americans to “reject the blind violence” that had killed King, whom he called the “apostle of nonviolence.” He also called on Congress to speedily pass the civil rights legislation then entering the House of Representatives for debate, calling it a fitting legacy to King and his life’s work. On April 11, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act. King Assassination: Seeking Justice On June 8, authorities apprehended the suspect in King’s murder, a small-time criminal named James Earl Ray, at London’s Heathrow Airport. Witnesses had seen him running from a boarding house near the Lorraine Motel carrying a bundle; prosecutors said he fired the fatal bullet from a bathroom in that building. Authorities found Ray’s fingerprints on the rifle used to kill King, a scope and a pair of binoculars.

On March 10, 1969, Ray pleaded guilty to King’s murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. No testimony was heard in his trial. Shortly afterwards, however, Ray recanted his confession, claiming he was the victim of a conspiracy. Ray later found sympathy in an unlikely place: Members of King’s family, including his son Dexter, who publicly met with Ray in 1977 and began arguing for a reopening of his case. Though the U.S. government conducted several investigations into the trial–each time confirming Ray’s guilt as the sole assassin–controversy still surrounds the assassination. At the time of Ray’s death in 1998, King’s widow Coretta Scott King (who in the weeks after her husband’s death had courageously continued the campaign to aid the striking Memphis sanitation workers and carried on his mission of social change through non-violent means) publicly lamented that “America will never have the benefit of Mr. Ray’s trial, which would have produced new revelations about the assassination…as well as establish the facts concerning Mr.

Ray’s innocence.” Impact of the King Assassination Though blacks and whites alike mourned King’s passing, the killing in some ways served to widen the rift between black and white Americans, as many blacks saw King’s assassination as a rejection of their vigorous pursuit of equality through the nonviolent resistance he had championed. His murder, like the killing of Malcolm X in 1965, radicalized many moderate African-American activists, fueling the growth of the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s and early 1970s. King has remained the most widely known African-American leader of his era, and the most public face of the civil rights movement, along with its most eloquent voice. A campaign to establish a national holiday in his honor began almost immediately after his death, and its proponents overcame significant opposition–critics pointed to FBI surveillance files suggesting King’s adultery and his influence by Communists–before President Ronald Reagan signed the King holiday bill into law in 1983. Construction is underway on a permanent memorial to King, to be located on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

, near the Lincoln Memorial–the site of King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington in 1963. Tags

Question: April 4th, 1968 saw the assassination of which civil rights leader?
Answer: Martin Luther King, Jr